About

$52,725

pledged of $50,000 goal

290

backers

INTRODUCTION
Makai Studios, George Kahumoku Jr. and The Slack Key Show are proud to announce the last chapter of the acclaimed “Masters of Hawaiian Music Film Series” with the our final film of the series and an exciting website to distribute the films.

Aloha, my name is David Barry. I am the director of The Masters of Hawaiian Music Film Series whose films include the documentaries Seeds Of Aloha, Richard Ho’opi’i The Timeless Voice, Dennis Kamakahi The Legend of Grey Wolf, Martin Pahinui The Golden Voice and Brother Noland 'Auana, Kawika Kahiapo Ke Kani Mo’olelo and Jeff Peterson Wahi Pana.

Masters of Hawaiian Music Film Series

Continuing our desire to document the lives and musical careers of the master’s of Hawaiian music, it is our goal to create one final film from the unique perspective of the artists themselves. George and I both feel that these stories are an important step in carrying Hawaiian music and culture forward to future generations. These films can be a bridge to the past for tomorrow's children of Hawaii.

Building upon our previous success, George and I want to ask you to support us in making a very special final film about the continued growth of slack key music after the Hawaiian Renaissance. Additionally we want to make an interactive website to house our series, that will allow users to add additional video and audio content ensuring that the perpetuation of Hawaiian music and culture can continue on.

To make this film and website we need to raise $50,000. As in the past, the film will target traditional broadcasting, educational use, online distribution, and DVD releases. As always, Uncle George Kahumoku Jr. will serve as the host for each film, introducing each film's subject. Interviews with the featured artist and others will then tell the story.

Why $50,000?Since the series inception we have successfully crowd-funded 7 films and with each film we have maximized our budgets by harnessing all of my production relationships and abilities. The result is our ability to produce professional broadcast films with smaller budgets than normally would be possible. Our budget for 2017 includes launching an exciting educational website that will further distribute our films while creating a dynamic and constantly growing online source for audio visual content pertaining to Hawaiian music and culture!

As always, the films will be created at no cost to the artists, but will instead be funded by you right here on Kickstarter.

The Story

Share the Music This is a film I have wanted to make since first working on Seeds of Aloha. With this film we will focus on the continuing history of Kī Hō'alu, or Hawaiian Slack Key guitar, but in this film we will focus on the period after the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Picking up the story in the late 1980s and shedding light on the development and contributions of many artists including George Kahumoku Jr., Moses Kahumoku, George Kuo, Cindy Combs, and Keola Beamer just to name a few. We will also look at the contributions of Dancing Cat Records and see how they influenced an entire generation of players, along with the rise in popularity of Slack Key workshops as the artists toured the world and brought Slack Key music to a whole new audience.

During this period of time Slack Key grew from the Hawaiian Islands where tunings were once treated as a family secret, to being spread around the globe. This is truly an exciting story that needs to be documented and told.

The Series Website

We want everyone to have the opportunity to see our films, and to have the opportunity to learn more about these wonderful artists. With this in mind our budget for 2017 includes launching an exciting educational website that will further distribute our films while creating a dynamic and constantly growing online source for audio visual content pertaining to Hawaiian music and culture. Everyone will be able to enjoy the site, and users will have the opportunity to share their own content, music, photos and videos within the site as well, ensuring that the library of content will continue to grow.

WHY WE NEED TO RAISE FUNDSTo tell this story we need to visit many locations to bring to life where these artists live and created music. Principal photography for these films will take place on Maui, Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu and the mainland United States. Through visiting some of these places with these artists, as a fly on the wall, we will get their unique perspective and put an image to the music.

We estimate principal photography will take a total of 30 days and the filming will be spread out to best match the artist's busy schedule. Once the filming is done we will do the editing in our own studio, but the editing process as always will be lengthy. From our past experiences we know that it will take 60 days of editing.

Once the film is edited, a final color enhancement and audio enhancement session will need to be done in a finishing facility to make the film ready for broadcast and film festivals.

The website will be constructed as the film is being produced.

GET INVOLVED!With this in mind, our goal is to raise $50,000 here on Kickstarter so we can tell this important story with a feature length documentary that we plan on submitting to PBS and to Hawaiian networks, as well as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. We need your help. We are asking you to please be a part of preserving the legacy of the Masters of Hawaiian music by financially backing our campaign.

By contributing you help share the values that these musicians and Uncle George have shown to all of us, through the telling of these important stories which can inspire future generations with the knowledge of where their music and culture came from.

Show your love of Slack Key with a "Crazy for Kiho'alu" t-shirt!

Autographed DVDs

We have great incentives and rewards for anyone that can give to our campaign, and you can also get involved by helping to SPREADING THE WORD through your social media networks. By working together we will be able to tell the stories of Share The Music and create this exciting website in continuation of the Master’s of Hawaiian Music film series. Uncle George has taught me that the Hawaiian term for this is Laulima, many hands working together, and together we can achieve great things!

Autographed Instruments

Don't pass up this opportunity to be a part of this exciting film series and website hosted by George Kahumoku Jr. as these films will be the source of information about Hawaii’s rich history of music for generations to come, and one of the best ways to ensure that the legacy of Hawaiian music lives on. Mahalo nui for your time and support!

Risks and challenges

Making a film of cultural or historic value requires removing any pre conceived notions from the story telling process. This kind of documentary making is a bit like exploring, and we need to let the story lead us where it will. We achieve this by listening to the artists as we interview them. They know the stories, they lived them.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

Crazy for Kiho'alu early bird special!

Show your love for all things slack key with a one of a kind "Crazy for Kiho'alu" t-shirt, designed by the slack key show's very own Elliot Prestwich! We will also send you a copy of this years film on DVD.

This is an early backer offer, only available at $100 for 5 days so get it now and save!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $125 or more
About $125

Crazy for Kiho'alu!

Show your love for all things slack key with a one of a kind "Crazy for Kiho'alu" t-shirt, designed by the slack key show's very own Elliot Prestwich! We will also send you a copy of this years film on DVD.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $300 or more
About $300

The Entire Masters Collection!

If you can back us with $300 we will send you a DVD copy of all of the films we have produced in our series, 8 films total on George Kahumoku Jr., Richard Ho'opi'i, Dennis Kamakahi, Martin Pahinui, Brother Noland, Jeff Peterson and Kawika Kahiapo and an autographed 2017 Series Poster!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

George Kahumoku Jr. Song Dedication!

If you can back us with $500 we will have George Kahumoku Jr. play a song of your choice as a dedication to someone. He will say this if from you to the person of your choice, and play the song of your choice! We will film it and give you a DVD copy of it, and also put it on youtube for you to share with your loved one, friends and family.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

The Website Wall of Honor

If you can support us with $500 we will place your name on the Masters of Hawaiian Music Film series interactive website Wall of Honor, a page that will be a permanent part of the website.
We will also send you a DVD copy of the film, and an autographed series poster.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

Come visit George's farm!

If you can support us with $1000 then we would like to invite you for an incredible morning spent with Uncle George on his farm. He will take you on a tour, showing you all of his plants and animals, sharing Hawaiian culture along the way. He will also cook a wonderful breakfast after the tour.

We will also send you a DVD copy of the film and an autographed series poster.
(Farm visits are subject to Uncle George's schedule and availability, and your travel to Maui is not included).

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,500 or more
About $2,500

Want a Martin guitar?

Do you need a new guitar? How about one signed my the artists in our film? If you can back us with $2500 then we will send you a Martin guitar signed by George Kahumoku Jr. and some of the artists from the film. We will also send you a DVD copy of the film and an autographed series poster.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $3,000 or more
About $3,000

George Kahumoku Jr. private concert!

Your own personal George Kahumoku Jr. concert!
If you can contribute $3000 you can have George Kahumoku Jr. play for you at a location you provide anywhere here in Hawaii (your travel to Hawaii is not included, and scheduling is based on George's availability). We will also give you a producers credit in the film, a copy of the film on DVD and an autographed 2017 series poster.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

Be An Executive Producer!

Be an Executive Producer!
If you can back us with $5000 we will put your name in the Executive Producers credits in the beginning title sequence of the films. We will also give you a ukulele autographed by George Kahumoku Jr. along with other artists in the final film, and autographed copies of both the film and the 2017 series poster.